ATP World Tour Finals: late finishes send fans underground

Organisers of the ATP World Tour Finals have defended the scheduling of
matches that has left fans leaving London's O2 venue early to avoid missing
the last train home.

Catch him while you can: fans get a close-up view as Andy Murray enters the O2 arena to face Roger Federer in the ATP World Tour FinalsPhoto: AP

By Vicki Hodges

12:36PM GMT 25 Nov 2009

If Roger Federer needed a come-down after his stylish win over Andy Murray, he could have joined the lengthy queues at North Greenwich jostling for position to board the last tube home.

The world No 1's three-set victory at the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena was the third successive late-night finish and left spectators rushing for the exits to start their journey home.

At least Federer and Murray were afforded the courtesy of having nearly 17,500 fans sitting tight until the conclusion of their Group A match.

On Sunday night, a steady stream of fans left before the end of Federer's three-set win over Fernando Verdasco, with a part closure on the Underground's Jubilee Line providing spectators with a further headache.

On Monday evening, Novak Djokovic claimed a cagey three-set encounter against Nikolay Davydenko in front of a reduced crowd.

With the doubles getting under way at 7pm, the singles evening matches are not able to start much before 9pm and fans at the O2 this week can expect a similar dash for the exits if matches continue to go the distance.

Chris Kermode, managing director of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, has defended the timings of the evening singles, but sympathised with fans who have had to leave early.

"Unfortunately that always happens in London," Kermode told Telegraph Sport. "I took my children to see Beyonce at the O2 the other night and had to leave while the concert was still going. I think it’s just a sign of the times.

"If we move earlier, more people won’t be able to get here. It’s a tough venue to get too - certainly by road. So for a 7pm start, people who are working can still get here, if it starts at 6pm, you can’t do it. The intention was to get an audience who could still go to work and come out of an evening."

London is staging the season-ending tournament for the first time and Kermode has been pleased by the capital's response to the event and the running of the production thus far - transport issues aside.

While the event is unlike anything Wimbledon has witnessed, with its grand-player entrances, flashing lights and music interludes, Kermode believes they have struck a fine balance.

"I think I was very conscious that we didn’t want to go complete NBA style razzmatazz with dancing girls and detracting from the sport," he said.

"We’re getting the balance right now. What we don’t want to do is alienate the huge core of tennis fans."

One idea which had been mooted was allowing players to walk out on court to their own song choice - a suggestion which was soon put to one side.

"We asked the eight players’ agents if they would like to come out to their own choice of music. Some didn’t want too, it wasn’t their thing.

"Other players chose tracks that were unbelievably inappropriate. I can’t say who. I’m a massive Neil Young fan and I think the audience would be disgusted if I started playing that."